Not yet decided. At its October 14 meeting the Planning Commission postponed the decision to December 9 over wildfire safety and evacuation concerns, Menifee 24/7 reported; the city has not posted minutes yet. If approved, Kensington would bring 160 gated condominium homes to the end of Bavaria Drive in Menifee, including 51 detached homes and 109 duplex homes.
What the city is deciding
The Planning Commission was asked on October 14 to approve a tentative tract map and plot plan for Van Daele Development. Each home would have at least three bedrooms and two and one half bathrooms.
Where and who it affects
The approximately 20 acre site is at the end of Bavaria Drive, next to Interstate 215 and south of McCall Boulevard. Apartments are north of the site. Single family neighborhoods are south, east and west of it. Two driveways on Bavaria Drive would provide access to the gated community. Work on an earlier apartment project stopped there in 2009, and the new plan would reuse some of its streets and basins.
What it could mean for your property
The homes would be two stories and approximately 1,448 to 1,828 square feet. Each would have a two car garage. The community would also provide 95 spaces along its private streets.
Shared features would include a pool and recreation area, a play area, a dog park and a pocket park. A homeowners association would maintain about seven acres of landscaping, including 203 trees.
Before the map is recorded, the development must join Menifee’s citywide community facilities district, or CFD. A CFD charges a special tax for services. Here, those services include streetlights, pavement maintenance, drainage facilities, street sweeping, landscaping and traffic signals. The documents do not give the special tax amount for these homes.
The site is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Its designation changed from moderate in 2025. Proposed safeguards include fuel management areas extending about 100 feet, metal fencing and six foot fire walls in identified areas along the northwest and southwest edges.
The developer must also pay a share toward widening the Interstate 215 northbound ramp at McCall Boulevard.
Questions to ask before you buy or build
- What CFD special tax would apply to the property?
- What would the HOA dues cover?
- Which fire wall and fuel management areas are nearest the property?
What happens next
The Planning Commission is set to take the project up again on December 9, according to Menifee 24/7, after the developer asked for time to study extra fire protections. No construction start date is given. Any approval would become void after three years unless permits are obtained and construction begins, or an extension is filed.